Show A NARROW ESCAPE my regiment was attached to smiths thi brigade beairs blairs cu division vision of grants granta army at vicksburg we had bad made our A ault assault of may 19 and were now BOW reforming our oar line lilies and preparing for another adult on an their works two days had lapsed and we were we ready tour or our task on the we were ordered to occupy one of those waves of hills that offered such each excellent excene nt opportunities tor for the defense of vicksburg the cm crest was about yards in ad advance vanc e of oar artillery line and about an equal distance frOm the confederate mentia we advanced in good order and reach reached ed the crest with slight loss and lay down to await orders for the final assault As we lay upon our backs gazing upward we looked into an italian sky cloudless and serene lt it was a typical sunny south day warm without out discomfort the air balmy and fragrant not a leaf all ail nature seemed to be peacefully resting in strong ng contrast to the roar of war that now was rending abu peaceful vale only to be equaled by heavens thundering guns guna when the storm king is abroad in hla his power being located midway between our artillery and that of the enemy with the roar of the guns on either side and hissing screaming shot and thclma hurtling over our beads made our position a bell of demoniacal sounds but so 80 P protected t ted that we careful carefully ay listened to the roar and philosophically contemplated the chances of victory or defeat our reverie however ww was soon rudely aroused by a thud and a little cloud of dust but a few feet down the hill bill from where we lay comparatively safe from the fire our blue lines in plain sight of our gunners we confided in the correctness of their aim but here DOTS cornea comes ashot a shot from our guns guna waterhouses Water houses battery plunging into our line colonel rov hoge sent an orderly acquainting the gunners with their carelessness As aa the shot had struck but bat a few feet below where I 1 lay it is needless to say I 1 w watched a the farther firing of that gun with interest ten minutes elapsed and shots passed safely over I 1 was lying resting on my left elbow corporal bird a manly soldier lay upon his back close to my side I 1 was watching that gun A w white hite puff olf of smoke and instantly the top 0 of f a tree standing in a hollow bollow about IOU yards in advance of the gun toppled over the activity of vae the human mind Is phenomenal no in the next few seconds I 1 lived an experience s seldom eldom given to mortals the gun tree and myself were in direct una line the shot abot before obstructed by the tree had bad been sufficiently elevated to go over but what now would the obstruction lower its ita ale elevation and plunge it into our liner linel what is that I 1 see it Is coming straight at me I 1 like a bee in its flight I 1 see it whar will it do take off an arm or a log leg will I 1 go home to wife and babies on cru tabes or will they bury me ma on yonder slope there was a whirl of ifa and possibilities ties about this life and the next rush ing through my brain why not turn over dodge it jump up anything to get out of range of coming death was I 1 doomed to be a witness of every detail of my own death the mind outran autran the speed of the cannon ball a thousand times but there was not time to telegraph the danger to the dull muscles for action in the midst of this mental confusion came a heavy spate apat a tremor of the ground a sprinkling of something warm in my face and I 1 jumped to my feet unharmed to look down on the mangled torm and face struck with death of the young co comrade at my side whose left side had been carried away by a six pound shot observing that his lips moved I 1 knelt down and heard the taint faint words twice repeated mother waw water and the soul of corporal bird a good soldier a dean clean hearted boy with whom for nearly a year I 1 had touched elbows in line and on the march took its flight we 1 buried him near the fatal tree that caused the accident and a year later I 1 furnished a detail to exhume his body that it m might ht be laid beside his kin n at hla his northern home on the banks of the beautiful kankakee the death of othia this young soldier over has hag a weird interest terest for me why 7 should it strike him and leave leava me did the fates decree lt it or was it to for some wise ase purpose puia of him who numbers the hairs of our beads and nd be fall of a sparrow I 1 have seen the samue of incredulity on the faces Z of friends while relating this in y C ident of seeing a cannon ball in its flight I 1 reply I 1 know it is sa true but I 1 deem it possible only too close observers sa a strong eye ado and favorable atmospheric pc conditions I 1 doubt it it is possible pos rm aible in the hazy atmosphere of the coast at mobile I 1 watched for xane 8 days but saw none at arkansas post I 1 saw several the flight of honey bees far above the tops of trees has been frequently observed shermans Sher mans corps on the march to join grant a t port gibson wa A witnessed w a bright star at 1 l 0 0 aday in 1860 in going down i n to the platte v alley fro ofallon bluffy the writer with the natural eye plainly saw the garrison flag at fort kearney the distance is mid tg be tax miles FEr changa |